A connection housing formed from insulating material for electrical components, preferably integrated circuits, is known from Patent Specification U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,626 A, on whose underside a large number of peak-like protuberances which are coated with metal to serve as external contacts are arranged circumferentially in the edge zone. On the top side, a chip is arranged in the central area, whose terminals are connected by way of bond wires to printed circuit tracks which radiate out in groove-like depressions in the base body to the outer edge where they are connected by way of vertical grooves or through holes to the external contacts. This housing, which can be closed off in the upward direction by means of a cap, has very large dimensions when compared with the actual component, which are justified in situations where a component, an integrated circuit for example, needs to have a very large number of terminals for contact purposes.
From Patent Specification EP 0 782 765, an injection molded, three-dimensional substrate consisting of an electrically insulating polymer is likewise already known, over the area of whose underside are located polymer protuberances shaped during the injection molding process. This technology is referred to as PSGA (Polymer Stud Grid Array). The polymer protuberances are provided with a solderable end surface and thus form outer terminals which are connected by way of integrated printed circuit tracks to inner terminals for a semiconductor component arranged on the substrate. The polymer protuberances are used as elastic spacers to separate the module from a printed circuit board and are thus able to compensate for different expansions between printed circuit board and intermediate carrier.
The semiconductor component can either be contacted on the underside of the intermediate carrier by way of bond wires and connected by way of printed circuit tracks to the polymer protuberances shaped on the same side, or it is also possible to arrange the chip on the top side of the intermediate carrier, whereby a connection to the underside and to the polymer protuberances by way of through-contact holes comes into consideration. Micro-boreholes having a diameter of less than 200 μm (so-called vias or p-vias) which are coated with a conducting surface are provided for the through contacts. Since it is barely possible to produce micro-boreholes of such a type by using mechanical drills, the process has changed over to creating these by means of laser drilling. However, the use of injection molding means that only base bodies having a certain minimum thickness can be shaped, which has hitherto no permitted the cost-effective use of a laser for introducing the required micro-boreholes.
Furthermore, a method is known from Patent Specification EP 0 645 953 A1 for manufacturing a substrate whereby the substrate is provided with a depression in which the component is arranged in a countersunk manner in order to keep the overall thickness of the module to a minimum. The through-holes for the electrical connection between the different substrate levels are, however, located in the region where the substrate is at its full thickness, whereas beneath the component only relatively wide holes formed during the injection molding process are provided for heat dissipation purposes.